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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3543
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE JOHNSON.
6993H.02I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 137, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to a local real
property tax exemption for certain disabled veterans.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 137, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 137.1073, to read as follows:
137.1073. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Commission", the state tax commission;
3 (2) "Disabled veteran", a Missouri r esident who:
4 (a) Has served on active duty or state active duty as a member of the Armed
5 For ces of the United States, the National Guard, or the United States Reserve For ces;
6 (b) W as discharged under honorable conditions;
7 (c) Has been adjudicated by the United States Department of V eterans Affairs as
8 having a service-r elated disability that r enders such veteran as being one hundr ed
9 per cent totally disabled or as being less than one hundred percen t totally disabled but is
10 compensated at the one hundr ed per cent level due to individual unemployability or is
11 entitled to receive a statutory award fr om the United States Department of V eterans
12 Affairs for:
13 a. Loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet;
14 b. Loss or permanent loss of use of one or both hands;
15 c. Loss of sight in one or both eyes; or
16 d. Permanent impairment of vision of both eyes; and
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 (d) Is an owner of record and liable for the payment of prop erty taxes on the
18 qualified res idence for which the exemption allowed under this section is claimed;
19 (3) "Homestead", the r eal pr operty located within the state of Missouri that is
20 actually owned and occupied by an individual as his or her primary res idence and not to
21 exceed five acres of land surrou nding it as is r easonably necessary for use of the
22 dwelling as a home;
23 (4) "Qualified r esidence", the r esidential real prop erty used as a homestead by a
24 disabled veteran or surviving spouse, but less any portion of the pr operty that is used
25 for commer cial purposes. If the prop erty , or a portion of the pr operty , is r ented out to
26 another person for mor e than six months it is presum ed to be used for commer cial
27 purposes. No mor e than one pr operty per claimant per tax year shall be claimed as a
28 qualified res idence under this section.
29 2. In addition to all other exemptions authorized under Article X, Section 6 of
30 the Constitution of Missouri or otherwise authorized by law , and as authorized under
31 Article X, Section 6(a) of the Constitution of Missouri, for all tax years beginning on or
32 after January 1, 2027, a county shall grant an annual exemption for a qualified
33 r esidence of a disabled veteran in an amount equal to the gr eater of thirty-two thousand
34 five hundr ed dollars or the maximum amount that may be granted to a disabled veteran
35 under 38 U.S.C. Section 2102, as amended, fr om all ad valor em taxation assessed on the
36 qualified res idence. The value of all pro perty in excess of the exempted amount shall
37 r emain subject to taxation.
38 3. The exemption under this section carries over to the benefit of the disabled
39 veteran's unr emarried surviving spouse or minor children as long as the unre married
40 surviving spouse or minor children continue to actually occupy the res idence as a
41 homestead or to any subsequent homestead within the same county , wher e such spouse
42 or minor children continue to occupy the res idence as a homestead. No exemption shall
43 be allowed for the tax year in which the surviving spouse r emarries.
44 4. The claim for an exemption shall not be transferred or assigned, except as
45 pr ovided for under this section.
46 5. The governing body of the county may adopt reas onable pr ocedur es and
47 pr omulgate ordinances, rules, and r egulations in order to implement and administer the
48 pr ovisions of this section. Eligibility determinations shall be made in accordance with
49 guidelines established by this section and any additional local rules or reg ulations.
50 6. The exemption granted under this section shall not affect the pr ocess of setting
51 the tax rate as requ ired under Article X, Section 22 of the Constitution of Missouri and
52 section 137.073 in any prior , curren t, or subsequent tax year . Nothing in this section
53 shall impair the obligation of any contract, redu ce or res trict the taxing authority of any
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54 political subdivision, or alter the calculation of assessed valuation for the purposes of
55 bonded indebtedness.
56 7. (1) All revenu es lost res ulting fr om the exemption authorized under this
57 section may be r eplaced to each taxing authority within a county fro m a countywide
58 r eplacement sales tax on all ret ail sales made within the county that ar e subject to sales
59 tax under chapter 144. The tax authorized under this section shall be imposed by
60 r esolution at a rate necessary to prod uce the same reven ue pr oduced by the tax on the
61 r eal pro perty exempted under this section in the pr evious year , and shall be imposed
62 solely for the same purposes as the pro perty tax was imposed. The tax authorized under
63 this subsection shall be in addition to all other sales taxes imposed by law , and shall be
64 stated separately fr om all other charges and taxes.
65 (2) No such re solution adopted under this section shall become effective unless
66 the governing body of the county submits to the voters res iding within the county at a
67 state general, primary , or special election a pr oposal to authorize the governing body to
68 impose the exemption and the rep lacement tax under this section. If a majority of the
69 votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting ther eon are in favor of the
70 question, the exemption and r eplacement tax shall become effective on the first day of
71 the second calendar quarter after the dir ector of rev enue recei ves notification of the
72 adoption of the local sales tax. If the majority of the votes cast on the question by the
73 qualified voters voting ther eon ar e opposed to the question, the exemption shall not
74 become effective unless and until the question is res ubmitted under this section to the
75 qualified voters and such question is appr oved by a majority of the qualified voters
76 voting on the question.
77 (3) All reven ue collected under this subsection by the dir ector of the department
78 of revenu e on behalf of the county , except for one per cent for the cost of collection that
79 shall be deposited in the state's general reven ue fund, shall be deposited in a special
80 trust fund, which is her eby creat ed and shall be known as the "V eterans Homestead
81 Pr operty T ax Replacement Sales T ax Fund", and shall be used solely for the designated
82 purposes. Moneys in the fund shall not be deemed to be state funds, and shall not be
83 commingled with any funds of the state. The dir ector may make refu nds fr om the
84 amounts in the fund and cr edited to the county for err oneous payments and
85 overpayments made, and may redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the
86 cr edit of such county . Any funds in the special fund which are not needed for curr ent
87 expenditur es shall be invested in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any
88 inter est and moneys earned on such investments shall be cre dited to the fund.
89 (4) The governing body of any county that has adopted the r eplacement sales tax
90 authorized in this section may submit the question of rep eal of the r eplacement tax to
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91 the voters on any date available for elections for the county . If a majority of the votes
92 cast on the question by the qualified voters voting ther eon ar e in favor of the r epeal, that
93 r epeal shall become effective on December thirty-first of the calendar year in which
94 such r epeal was appr oved. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the
95 qualified voters voting ther eon are opposed to the repea l, the repl acement sales tax
96 authorized in this section shall rem ain effective until the question is r esubmitted under
97 this section to the qualified voters and the repea l is appr oved by a majority of the
98 qualified voters voting on the question.
99 (5) If the re placement tax is repeal ed or terminated by any means, all funds
100 r emaining in the special trust fund shall continue to be used solely for the designated
101 purposes, and the county shall notify the dir ector of the department of reve nue of the
102 action at least ninety days befor e the effective date of the r epeal and the director may
103 order rete ntion in the trust fund, for a period of one year , of two per cent of the amount
104 collected after receip t of such notice to cover possible ref unds or overpayment of the tax
105 and to redee m dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such accounts.
106 After one year has elapsed after the effective date of abolition of the rep lacement tax in
107 such county , the director shall r emit the balance in the account to the county and close
108 the account of that county . The direc tor shall notify each county of each instance of any
109 amount ref unded or any check r edeemed fro m receip ts due the county .
110 8. Under section 23.253 of the Missouri sunset act:
111 (1) The pr ovisions of this section shall sunset six years after the effective date of
112 this section unless r eauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
113 (2) This section shall terminate on January first of the calendar year
114 immediately following the calendar year in which the pr ovisions of this section are
115 sunset.
✔
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